Ferdie

Thank you for this advice. Have now got quite a few options to look at. 😀

8 hours ago, BR60103 said:

This is my method.  Top of Kadee NEM is same as top of TriAng coupler.  The tail no longer swivels, but the coupler head does.   You lose some of the delayed uncoupling effect.  Sometimes the mount is too far inboard for this to work.

The locos are a different manufacturer. 

 

Just now, Ferdie said:

 

Thank you for that detailed response. I am intending to fit not just to the tender but also the front bogie, which I would imagine will more challenging than the tender.

4 hours ago, ejstubbs said:

IME of fitting Kadees across my fleet, I reckon your options are:

 

1) Fit Kadee 'whisker' couplings (the #14x series).  The trouble is, it's difficult to know which ones will be the right length and height (underset, centreset or overset) - there are nine options altogether, (product numbers #141-149).  So you might have to buy a selection - unless someone has already done the mod and can advise.  The length will be partly determined by the minimum radius of the curves on your layout - they need to be long enough to avoid buffer lock on your tightest curves.  You may also find that the standard whisker coupling pocket (#242) is too long or wide, which would mean experimenting with the narrow (#262) or short (#252) pockets.  All in all, it could end up costing you a fair bit to get the right couplings fitted to just one loco, and thus would be difficult to justify unless you are expecting to modify a lot more non-NEM fitted stock in future.  Bear in mind also that this solution will likely involve drilling and/or otherwise modifying the chassis to fit the whisker coupling pocket, which could affect the second-hand value of the model (see also option 5 below).

 

2) Fit NEM pockets using either the Parkside NEM pocket mounts (which will then require some fishtail NEM pockets, most easily obtained by buying a pack of Bachmann NEM TLCs), or the Dapol NEM pockets.  Again, this will likely mean glueing or screwing to the loco, and very possibly other 'surgery'.

 

3) Have a look at the Hornby service sheets for later versions of the same model to see if there are spare parts available (e.g. tender chassis bottom, front pony truck) for a version that does have NEM pockets.  You may still have to source the actual NEM pockets separately, the likelihood being that the Hornby spare parts will only have the socket for the Hornby/Bachmann NEM pocket's fishtail to plug in to, not the pocket itself.

 

4) Some other solution of your own or some someone else's devising, possibly involving screwing a #5 Kadee coupling directly to the chassis (which I wouldn't actually recommend because you lose the lateral swing in the coupling, although it can work OK).

 

5) Sell the model you've got and buy a newer version which does have NEM pockets.

 

In all cases, remember that getting the height of the Kadee coupling is critical for correct operation, for which the Kadee height gauge (#206) is invaluable.

 

Also, have a good read through the various existing threads on RMWeb about Kadee couplings.  There's lots of good information and experience in there.

Thanks Ian, very useful advice. I will need to look at the resources suggested.

4 hours ago, ISW said:

There are plenty of ways to install Kadees, that being part of the problem with them! Here's just a few:

1. Use Kadee #5 and its associated draft gear box. You screw the box to the underside of the loco (well, I use screws, others use glue) such that the coupling is in line with the buffers.
2. Use Kadee 'Whisker' coupler (#141 - #158) and associated draft gear box #232. Installation same as (1).
3. Simply screw the coupler to the underside of the loco. However, if you'll lose the lateral movement of the coupler if you screw it in tight. If you leave it loose, coupling doesn't always work because it doesn't self-centre.
4. Use an HP0787 coupler from AliExpress. These are all plastic 'clones' of the 'Whisker' coupler. These do fit #232 draft boxes, but you have another option. Screw to the underside of the loco as (3) but then glue some 'bump stops' either side of the HP0787 to touch the plastic 'whiskers', which will then ensure self-centring. [I suppose you could do this with a Kadee 'Whisker' as well].
5. Buy and install an NEM box, or fashion one out of styrene. Glue to underside of loco such that an installed Kadee NEM coupling (#17 - #20) is correctly located aligned with the buffers.

Just remember that in all Options you do need to get the coupler at the correct height!

 

I'm sure others will chime in with even more options.

 

Ian

 

I have acquired a Hornby West Country which has tension lock couplings which I need to change to Kadee. However, there is no NEM pocket. How do I proceed?

Apologies! There is on page three!

Looking at Markits list of wheels cannot see any that are listed for the W specifically..

Thanks Ray for the info. I will give them a buzz. I am trying to ascertain the correct driving wheel to use. Looking at photos. I cannot quite decided whether they are 16 or 17 spoke?

3 hours ago, Jack P said:

 

I was recently reading Rays build of the W. He used a Loadhauler and a 1424. I used a similar motor with a flywheel and a roadrunner+ box in mine. The new HL motors are significantly shorter, so I can't imagine you'll have any issues with that.

Thanks Jack, Looking at the HL website they show the Loadhauler and Loadhauler Compact, but cannot see a motor with the reference 1424. I will contact them to see what might have replaced it.

Hi Ray, Saw this layout of yours at the Taunton School exhibition a few years ago. Love it! Feltham was the nearest shed to me when I lived in Twickenham and managed to bunk a few times. I remember you have a model of a W class, built from a PDK kit I think. I am thinking of getting the kit. What motor did you use? PDK themselves recommend High Level motors and gears but have not a clue as to which to use??

I was brought up in Twickenham and remember seeing the tram tracks 'grinning' through the tarmac in Heath Road, further into Twickenham. This would have been around the very early '60s. The wooden blocks I well remember as my mother got hold of some (maybe for using on our coal fire??). Those familiar with the area will recall seeing the tram tracks in Fulwell bus depot well into the days of the Routemaster.

On 05/11/2014 at 22:22, bécasse said:

Some further checking of background information has revealed that there was a "statutory restriction" on Twickenham Railway Bridge and only one trolleybus was allowed to be on the bridge at any one time (so it was effectively, but not actually, single track for trolleybuses). A similar restriction had previously applied to trams.

 

Such a restriction on public transport vehicles is rare, because their axle weight distribution is usually optimised, and would seem to confirm that the bridge suffered from some weakness that led to the decision to retain the tram tracks within the road surface. That road surface, incidentally, would seem, from the absence of granite setts around the tram tracks, to have been laid with tarred hardwood blocks (with their grain vertical), albeit, by 1960, with a thin layer of tarmac added on top to compensate for wear. Wood block roads weren't uncommon in town centres in Edwardian times and seem, in particular, to have been commonplace along the routes of the London United Tramways, (they were relatively quiet in the days of substantial horse drawn traffic), but had become rare by 1960. I do, though, remember seeing them being lifted outside Charing Cross railway station in London when The Strand was widened in the 1950s.

 

Note that the restriction means that it would be wrong for the model to show two trolleybuses actually on the bridge, the southbound one would wait north of the bridge for the northbound one to finish crossing it. Doubtless the local inspector would spend a reasonable amount of time here to ensure that drivers always obeyed the restriction.